he wanted me to ask you if you had given up.
since last night i have become obsessed over that two minute scene where Jane sits at the table with two empty plates meant for his dead wife and child because it is stunning and perfect and i am so in love with the direction of that entire scene so i am going to vomit meta and you all can scroll on/delete whatever.
he walks into the restaurant and the waitress already knows who he is so obviously this is a trend that happens for a while (it’s been eight years right? eight years he comes once a year maybe more.) and at first he seems okay! he’s going to wait for someone and the way he’s dressed it looks like it’s set up for a formal ocassion perhaps a date etc etc.
but then he sits down and waits and no one comes and there are three plates and you don’t see the three plates because that’s the worst part; you just see him ordering thai tea (i am going to pretend that this is thai tea or iced tea whatever) and he sips it and closes his eyes and it’s that face and you know it’s that face; the one that he puts on whenever he remembers something about his family and there’s that sense of foreboding.
he drinks the tea and the camera zooms into his eyes and it’s heartbreaking because he’s remembering the taste but he’s remembering all the times he shared that drink with his wife and child. it’s both a reminder of what’s happened and the times he wish he cherished more. you realize that there’s nothing happy about this scene because there’s nothing to rejoice in. jane doesn’t spend his time reminiscing to keep himself at bay; he reminisces because it’s just another weight to add to his guilt and he always has to remember. Red John will never let him forget and he will never let himself forget. he puts down the iced tea. and then the waitress brings another.
he drinks the next one and looks at the three empty plates in front of him. they’re neat, they’re set up like they’re ready for someone to come. you realize that jane specifically asks for a table of three every time. two people will never come. jane realizes this and lets that sit in for a while, closing his eyes and remembering everything and realizing that they’re never coming back. he’s not celebrating their deaths. he’s mourning them, eight years later.
he finishes the second drink and i love that scene where you see his hand because it doesn’t want to let go but at the same time it’s the hand of someone who’s so tired and worn out of chasing demons he can never really catch. a man who’s wasted his talents and is so close to crumbling. it shakes a bit (i am obsessed with that trembling!)
the waiter brings in the third drink. time goes by slowly and as the audience it’s like watching another tragedy unfold because there are three empty plates. this scene is only composed of drinks, jane and plates and it’s stunning because there’s literally no human motion involved- just jane sipping his tea but that’s enough to show how damaged this man really is. he does this every year. he reserves a table for three, pretending that they’re going to be there. no one is watching or judging him; he goes in and has those three drinks- for himself, for his wife and for his little daughter. and those eyes are the worst part because just looking at him you know he’s completely, utterly broken. here is a man who charms because people think it’s his nature to charm but there’s nothing really left of him; there never was, eight years later. (this isn’t even him at his worst; it’s the burning the files part that’s him at his worst.) it’s not about moving on. jane has never moved on; he’s stuck and he wants to be stuck and he doesn’t and it’s utterly tormenting.